A Birth Story That's Sweathog Wild
by Me
Summary: Theo invites Horshack over for Claire to do a couple wills in this Welcome Back, Kotter crossover. When all the Sweathogs come to their house, it really complicates Denise giving birth.


We learn Denise is pregnant in the finale. I use the baby, Jackie, from my "Full House" crossovers. I don't recall if Denise was planning to come back to give birth, but she can easily change her mind, too. It's been quite a few years since I saw it, but I hope I did the characters pretty well, at least.

The Huxtables live in Brooklyn Heights, Kotter and company in a poorer part. Brooklyn alone has over a million in it, but, they could meet somehow. And, in so doing, with Denise about to give birth soon after the finale of The Cosby Show, it leads to…

A Birth Story That's Sweathog Wild

Cliff Huxtable smiled broadly while driving with his son Theo, a recent college graduate, to a hospital in one of the poorer sections of Brooklyn. "It's great to be together, isn't it?"

"Yeah, this worked out super. One of your patients gave birth a few days early over here, and you've got to check on her, and I'm meeting with a fellow who works with troubled youth in this area," Theo said.

"It's an excellent way to make contacts and build relationships in your new job."

"Yeah, Dad. I'll make sure you're in the right place, then I'll take the car, and be back in about an hour." Cliff said that was fine. "I'm glad Denise chose to come back to give birth to Jackie." He noticed Cliff looked worried. "Is something wrong, Dad?"

"No, it's just that she and Martin will eventually be in Asia by themselves, and to give Olivia and the baby a sense of continuity, they will be staying with us. I was under the impression that children eventually moved out and stayed," he deadpanned as they parked the car in a garage and got out.

Theo laughed. Cliff and his wife, Claire, a prominent attorney, were a very sweet, loving couple, but Cliff often joked about the irony of having so many people in the house; and of the fact that they kept coming back. At least Sondra, her husband, and the twins had found their own place now. But, it did still seem kind of crowded.

"I promise, Dad, I'll try to move out once I'm married. But, you know, I keep thinking about that example you showed me, where I wanted to move out when I was still in high school, and you kept taking all the money away because of how much everything would cost. So, I'm being extra cautious."

"Yes, but now, you will hopefully have money coming back in," Cliff noted as they entered the front door of the hospital.

They looked in the cafeteria, right near the entrance, and saw a transporter tech with two other men of the same age, and a man of around fifty. "Hey, look at that sweater," Juan Epstein said, turning to his friend Vinnie Barbarino, the transporter. "He's dressed so nice, I bet he's from Beverly Hills or something."

"That's clear across the country," Cliff said as they walked up to them. Theo stayed with him, sensing the chance to hear some comedy that he could perhaps use when he wrote; he was an aspiring writer, as well.

"Hey, do I look like I know where anything is?" Epstein asked. "Besides, I got an all-purpose note from my mother."

"An all-purpose what?" Cliff read, as Epstein lip-synched. "'To whom it may concern. Please excuse Juan from having to have knowledge about any subject about which he is not familiar. His brain ran off and has never come back.' What kind of note is that?"

"The same kind he'd give me all the time in class," Kotter said, impersonating Groucho Marx.

Epstein got a bit defensive and said, "Yeah, I help run a deli with one of my brothers, I don't have to know geography."

"Well, what if you get a customer from Turkey? Do you presume he came out of the lunch meat?" Cliff asked.

Barbarino couldn't resist a little joke among friends. "Hey, the only way he knew where anything was at school was by how close it was to the smell of his gym locker."

"Never mind that." He turned to Barbarino, since he was dressed as a tech. "I'm looking for Dr. Foote."

"What?" Barbarino asked.

"No, Dr. Watt is the patient's pediatrician."

Barbarino looked around as his former classmates chuckled. "Where?"

"In Brooklyn Heights," Cliff said. "What does it matter; do you know where he is? He delivered a baby for a patient of mine the other day."

"What?"

"No, it wasn't Dr. Watt, it was…" Cliff rolled his eyes and spoke with exaggerated effect, including pointing to his eye for "I," holding up four fingers for the word "for," and pointing to his foot. "I am looking for Dr. Foote."

"Where?"

"If I was looking for him elsewhere, I would not be here," Cliff said, exasperated.

Kotter spoke up. Their former teacher said, "Come on, Vinnie, I know you're on your break and you want to hang out with your friends, but try to be professional."

"Come on, I'm a transporter tech. He's a doctor, he's the professional."

Horshack stood, trying to defuse things by introducing himself. "Hello. How are ya? I'm Arnold Horsha-a-ack."

"Hey, what a coincidence," Theo said as he shook the man's hand. "Theo Huxtable. We were going to meet to go over some programs for some of the kids you work with who have dyslexia."

"Oh, yeah." Horshack turned to his friends. "I was supposed to meet someone back where I work. But, now you can join us. We just don't get the chance to hang out like we did when we were in school."

Theo smiled politely; from the man's nasal voice and other little things, he wondered if Horshack might be even more challenged than he was; in fact, Horshack had been the ohnly Sweathog to test out of the remedial class. Theo had learned, once he graduated high school, that he had dyslexia. He was glad to see that Horshack, too, had overcome and was helping others now. He introduced himself and Cliff.

Horshack introduced the others. "We were trying to figure out who should be guardian of our little girl if my wife and I should die; she's five and we still have to do that." He knew the best people for advice would be his closest friends and his mentor, Mr. Kotter.

"Yeah, except you still gotta worry about finding someone who'll do the wills for free, with the money you two make you'll never be able to afford a lawyer," Epstein said.

Theo spoke up. "My mom does trial work, but I'm sure she'd do a couple wills for you." He pulled out one of her cards and gave it to Horshack. "She likes to do pro bono work."

"She's worked for Sonny Bono?" Barbarino quipped. "And, what's that gotta do with workin' for Arnold here?"

"Hey, that means work for the poor," Epstein said. "I just remembered, that's what I needed back when I was in school and I was workin' on cars."

"Oh, were you a mechanic?" Cliff asked.

"Nah, I just worked on the hubcaps," he cracked.

Kotter assured them, "He hasn't gotten in any trouble since he graduated, though."

"Say, can your mom work on Saturday?" Horshack asked. "My wife and I both have crazy work schedules." Theo told Arnold she could. "Great; can your girls watch Jean Saturday, Mr. Kotter?"

"Hey, why not drop her off at our house? I'm sure Olivia would enjoy having someone new to play with, too," Theo offered.

Epstein said it sounded nice. "Why don't we all go; it'll be great to see how the other 95% live," he joked.

"Hey, Freddie doesn't have basketball practice then," Barbarino said, alluding to the other member of the Sweathogs, Freddie Washington. "Maybe your mom could interview all of us and help Arnold and his wife choose."

Though it sounded like an odd idea to Cliff and Theo, Arnold quickly agreed. "Oh, yeah, we can all go. They're all my friends, I just hate naming one over the other. And, at least there's only three of them; I've got a lot more siblings. But, their lives aren't as stable."

"He's right," Kotter said, "he wanted to name the baby after all three. Then he realized Vinniejuanfreddie would be too hard to spell. So, he figured he'd use a letter in each of their names. He couldn't think of any with all the first or all the second letters, though. Then they realized 'Jean' had the third letter of each of their first names. Which made the most sense to Horschack, anyway, because there are three of them."

Barbarino, after a slight pause, noted, "I thought this was gonna lead into one of those long, crazy uncle stories."

"I don't know what those stories are like," Cliff noted, "but I'm guessing all of you have given him your own unusual stories to tell." He suggested Theo consider using them in a future book, and the people went on to the business they had originally come to do.

Claire Huxtable prepared to leave for her office at about 8:15 Saturday morning; she'd made another appointment at nine, once she knew she had this one. She poked her head in the room where Denise was just getting up, and Olivia was watching cartoons. "The Horshacks will drop Jean off a little after ten; I figure I'll go in early since I can catch up on some other work. You're sure you're okay, Denise?" She knew Denise's due date was only a few days away; Martin was coming in just in case the baby was a bit early.

"I said I'll be fine, Mom," Denise said in a slightly complaining tone.

Claire smiled. Denise could be fiercely independent; she'd gone to Africa for a while and gotten married without their knowing about it! Her husband, Martin, was due in from his naval base around the same time. "Well, just in case, I left a message for Martin to come to the house, since I can't; you don't need to be driving to pick him up." Denise fretted a bit, ignoring the small pains she was feeling. "Theo will be done with his client at ten, and Kenny is coming over to study with Rudy, so they can watch Olivia till Theo gets done with his client if you should go into labor."

"Come on, Mom!" Claire's protectiveness and command of the situation was making Denise defensive. "That's not going to happen."

"I know, but just in case."

Claire went downstairs, with Rudy following, and saw Vanessa about to leave for the library. "Mom, is the teacher who's coming with the Horshacks named Washington?" Vanessa asked. He was. "I think I had him as a sub a few times. He said his dream was to get a full-time job teaching and coaching in the inner city, at Buchanan. Theo telling that story her heard - about the test Mr. Kotter convinced him to retake - made me remember. He told that to our class once." It wasn't the most important, but had been one of those little things that helped Vanessa decide to become a teacher.

"Sounds just like you, Mom, I guess that's why Theo remembered it, huh?" Rudy asked. "Of course, what was really dumb was that he had that record of MacBeth he listened to when he retook it for you. If he'd listened to it and tried to begin with, he wouldn't have had to retake it."

"That's true, but what's important is that he learned to apply himself. That's why I emphasized that when he brought up the test, after he learned about his dyslexia."

Vanessa spoke tiredly to Rudy. "Yeah, and Mom probably figured you would remind him, anyway."

Rudy grinned as Claire said simply, "She's learning how to help while being more subtle. Give her time. Come on, we better hurry if I'm to drop you off at the library. Olivia's watching cartoons with her mom in her room, Rudy, just check on her in a little bit if she doesn't come down." Rudy promised to do so, and the other two left.

Theo had arrived home by the time the Sweathogs came. Arnold and his wife, Mary, had come to drop their five-year-old off, while the others had followed to make sure they didn't get lost. Washington quickly introduced himself. "Hey, guys," Theo said. "Hey, my sister Vanessa says she had you as a sub. She really liked you. She remembered that story you told about the pickup game Mr. Kotter challenged you to over that math test," he told Washington.

"Cool; I'm glad to know I can make a good impression on students. I hope I could be as good at one-on-one with a student as Mr. Kotter was; he almost won!"

Six-year-old Olivia offered to show Jean around, and insisted that the others come on the grand tour, as well. Rudy looked up from the couch, where she and Kenny were going over notes, having forgotten to check on Denise once Kenny came. Rudy rolled her eyes. "Olivia, you don't have to give everyone a grand tour."

"Come on, Rudy, I'm sure they don't mind; it'll only take a minute," Theo said. Rudy muttered an "okay," but was unsure. She was more concerned about inconveniencing them, but also a little about the fact they were total strangers. However, Theo wasn't concerned; he was always very friendly and outgoing, and figured if Horshack said they were okay, they were. He went with them, though, so Olivia wouldn't take too long.

After a few minutes, Olivia led Jean, Mary, Theo, and the Sweathogs toward the room where Denise was laying on the bed. "And this is where Denise sleeps when she stays here," she said. "Well, sometimes I call her Mommy now, but…" She didn't mention that her birth mother was still who she thought of as her Mommy a lot. Instead, she quickly ran over to Denise. "Are you all right?"

"I'm going into labor, Honey," Denise said, a little breathlessly. "I was just hoping to wait for your daddy to come."

Washington looked unsure. "I don't know, you don't look too good."

Theo held out his hands. "Okay, look, I'll go downstairs and get the car started; can one of you help Denise with her overnight bag?" Mary said she would. "Great; everything's gonna be okay, Denise, don't worry." He left quickly.

"Okay, I guess," Denise muttered; she was not in a mood to argue it. "Jean and Olivia will be fine, Mr. Horshack; Rudy's very good with Olivia, and Kenny's a very nice boy."

"Oh, I'm sure, too, now you just get right over there so you don't miss your appointment with the stork." Horshack uttered an unusual, wheezing laugh, then looked at Jean, who had locked the door. "Jean, what are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out that trick Uncle Juan showed me." Horshack had taught her to call his best friends uncles; they were like brothers to him, after all.

Epstain took the pin Jean was using to try and pick the lock, and said, "No, Jean, that's not how you do it. Here, let me show you."

"Hey, what are you doin', man?" Washington complained. "We've got to get her to the hospital."

"Come on, it'll be a minute till Mary helps with her bag and…oops."

"Oops? What does he mean by 'oops'?" Denise asked anxiously.

Epstein tried to jiggle the lock. He couldn't get it to move. "Well…I, uh…well, the pin broke off, and now…I think we're stuck in here."

"Are you crazy, man? There's a woman about to deliver a baby," Washington exclaimed.

"Oh no," Barbarino cried dramatically, holding his head in his hands. "I'm so confused."

"Hey, now pull yourself together, Vinnie," Washington said. "Don't worry, Ma'am, my man Vinnie here, he's got experience. He delivered a baby in an elevator once."

"Oh, like that's going to help," Denise said, a contraction coming as she finished.

Rudy was on the other side of the door now. "What's going on in there?" Rudy asked.

"Nothing," Olivia said innocently.

"Olivia, I sometimes find it hard to believe nothing's going on normally, let alone now…and why is the door locked?!" Rudy asked, sounding like a young Claire might.

"It's stuck," Jean explained.

Rudy put her hands on her hips, figuring Olivia may have had a part in it. "All that's happening, and your mother's going into labor, Olivia? You can't tell me 'nothing' is going on. And, somebody better get it unstuck. Because, my mom might not be home, but I've heard enough that I can give a pretty good lecture myself if I have to."

"Hey, it's okay, little Jeannie here was trying to figure out a trick I'd shown her, and I tried to show her the right way. Except I didn't do it quite right," Epstein explained.

Rudy wasn't sure if this man was telling the truth, but was starting to believe it. Partly to call his bluff, partly to show how upset she was – after all, her sister was about to have a baby! – she said, "It doesn't matter the age; I'm still willing to lecture."

"But he didn't mean to," Olivia said.

"Uncle Juan was just being a knucklehead," Jean said matter-of-factly. That's what the Sweathogs often said when referring to their wilder stunts in their younger days. Mary looked up from getting Denise to lay down again and confirmed what had happened.

Rudy sighed. Even without Mary confirming it, she knew Olivia or Jean would have slipped if it wasn't. She called Kenny to come upstairs. "Mom said she hoped I had kids like me, I didn't think it would be so soon," she mumbled. She told Kenny, "Theo's waiting in his car. Tell him they're trapped in the room because something's jammed in the lock. Do you remember my dad showing you his workbench?" He did. "Go down and get screwdrivers. We'll need to take off the hinges, or the lock, or something." He left, and she called back into the bedroom. "How far apart are her labor pains?"

"She thinks they're kinda close, but she's not sure. She had her bag mostly ready and all, but she was waiting for her husband to fly in from Singapore," Barbarino said.

Epstein said, "Hey, I got an idea. All we gotta do is tie the sheets together, and we can all shimmy out the window to the ground."

"You can't do that with a woman in labor, man," Washington said.

"Yeah, what if the baby comes out while we're trying to lower her?" Barbarino asked.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Olivia asked at the bedside, now sensing something was wrong, and that they needed to get Denise out.

"Everything's going to be fine, Honey," Denise tried to assure her. "As long as the Four Stooges here figure out how to deliver a baby."

A while later, Horshack held Jean in his lap as she spoke. "Why does it hurt her so much?" Jean asked, obviously a little scared.

"It's just part of the miracle of a baby coming out," Horshack explained. "You were born the same way."

"In a house surrounded by a bunch of strangers?" the girl asked. "That's not how Mommy tells it."

Mary overheard while talking with Denise, and giggled. Horshack gave his trademark wheezing laugh. "Heh, heh, heh. No, Jeannie, but it takes a lot of effort. That's why he's telling her to push," he said, as Barbarino urged Denise to push a little.

Epstein looked up from the door, now quite tired. "Oh, he was tellin' her to push. I didn't think pushin' on this door was gonna work."

"Hey, can it, man, I don't think our patient's gonna appreciate that," Washington said, a little aggravated himself; he was usually the Sweathog with the coolest head, but even he could get uptight with something like this..

"Yeah, don't worry, Ma'am," Barbarino said. "I've never lost a patient. Well, there was the time I sent Mr. Woodman down the wrong elevator and lost him in the basement, but you don't got an elevator, so you don't have to worry about that."

"He's funny, isn't he?" Olivia asked. She, at least, was being entertained by the men's antics; she figured they were trying to help her cope.

"Oh, yes, Sweetheart; at least I hope they're not being serious," Denise said. Mary didn't know if they were or not.

"Okay, we got all the stuff ready in case we have to deliver?" Mary asked. Theo had been shouting in instructions about what to do, from what he recalled. "From what Theo was sayin', his dad should be home soon, though. Just in case, we still need something to tie the cord off with, and something to cut it. The mother says she's got a pair of scissors." Olivia left Denise for a moment, and handed them to him. "Thanks, Olivia, not yet."

Olivia looked curiously at Barbarino. Because he'd mentioned having patients, she thought he had the most knowledge. "How did the baby get in her?" Olivia inquired.

Barbarino chuckled and said, "Ask your mother," as another contraction hit.

"She's a bit busy," Olivia remarked candidly, starting to feel concerned, as the contractions were clearly getting harder, and closer.

Theo came downstairs, as he heard Cliff come home. "Dad, I'm glad you made it. You almost missed all the excitement," he said, trying to put a positive spin on things. He couldn't believe it when Kenny came out and told him earlier.

"Excitement?" Cliff hung up his jacket as he continued to speak. "I went in at 2:40 this morning to deliver a baby. Then, I had a C-section, while another patient began her labor. Then, I delivered that one. My entire morning, including what very few people dare to refer to as morning, has been consumed with thoughts of women in labor." Theo tried to interrupt, but Cliff continued. "Not only that, but I have raised five children, am presently raising one grandchild, and will have another to raise when Denise and Martin leave for Singapore again. There has been more than enough excitement in this house to last a lifetime, and coupled with the sleep deprivation brought on by my job, I'm convinced that if I hear any more about excitement right now, I will start having hallucinations." Denise screamed as a contraction hit. "Like that one."

"I heard it, too. See…"

"You see, it's so bad, it's even catching…you did?"

As Cliff tried to make sense of things, Rudy ran part of the way downstairs. "Dad, Denise is giving birth, the Sweathogs and Olivia are trapped in the bedroom with her, and Kenny and I are trying to take stuff off to get to them." She then ran back up.

Cliff shot her a wide-eyed look of shock, then turned back to Theo. "What kind of a ship are you running here? Why didn't you call the paramedics?"

"I figured it wouldn't do any good to have them standing around here while we tried to get into the room," he reasoned. "Then, either we'd get them to the hospital in my car, or you'd be home and you could take care of things."

Cliff shook his head as he ran upstairs and shouted through the door, "Denise, it's your father! Is everything all right in there?"

Barbarino called out from behind the door. "Hey, don't worry, Dr. Huxtable, I helped deliver a baby in an elevator once."

Cliff looked at the door in shock. "I went to medical school for four years to do that sort of thing; it's not supposed to be that easy!" He asked how far apart the contractions were; when he heard "really close," he told Theo, "Congratulations, you're about to get a taste of what it's like to be a nurse." It sounded like it may not have helped to have paramedics there, as they might not make it to the hospital. "People always say don't take your work home with you, mine follows me," he mumbled as he told Theo what was expected and where a little bag with some instruments was, then went into the bathroom to scrub.

Claire had called a minute later, just before they got through, and driven home, followed by Mr. Kotter. As they walked up to the door, she said, "I'm really sorry about this, Mr. Kotter, but I could have sworn they were all coming to my office, just as you planned. Yet, I called home, and Rudy just said they were there and Denise was having her baby, and hung up." She unlocked the door and surmised, "Unless they decided to stay while Theo took Denise to the hospital. Unfortunately, Martin had already landed and left the airport." They stepped into the house, and Claire hollered, "Rudy? Olivia?"

Martin entered at that moment, too. "Hey, I got your message."

"Good," Claire said, "unfortunately, I think they're at the hospital now." Just then, she, Kotter, and Martin heard a loud scream and pushing sound.

"Then who's that giving birth up there?" Kotter joked as Martin raced upstairs. "I hope the doctor's here, at least."

The Sweathogs were waiting outside in the hall, along with Jean and Kenny, as Cliff had said he was "turning it into a waiting room, with no chairs." Theo was assisting Cliff. Olivia had insisted on staying since she was concerned for Denise – Denise had decided it was okay since they were at home, anyway. So, Rudy held her and whispered what was happening, as Olivia asked Rudy a few questions, but mostly looked on in complete awe. Rudy was awestruck, as well, yet also ready to usher her outside and assist too, if needed. Mary was holding Denise's hand and reassuring her.

"Get in there, you're just in time," Kenny declared, recognizing Martin right away.

Martin ran and knelt as he grabbed Denise's hand, his head spinning at the crazy events that were unfolding. Claire ran in, too, as Rudy heard her voice and called her in. She joined Rudy and Olivia, figuring Denise had asked them to stay; she could worry about what else had happened later. "She's going to start pushing all the time soon," Rudy then whispered. Olivia was glad to have someone who could tell her what was going on.

"Look, there's the head," Claire said excitedly a moment later. Seconds later, Cliff pulled out a healthy, crying baby, a huge, toothy grin cross Claire's and Rudy's faces as they explained about Cliff cutting the cord Rudy had mentioned, and so on. "Isn't this amazing?" Rudy and Claire both asked. Olivia nodded slowly; the concern over Denise's pain slowly giving way to a huge grin.

"Congratulations, Martin. A healthy baby boy," Cliff said, a bit misty-eyed now that the business part of his job was over.

Olivia's eyes remained wide as she slowly approached Martin, Denise, and her new baby brother. She finally turned to Dr. Huxtable, still thunderstruck at how he'd gotten the baby out of there, and said, "I want to do that someday, too."

"You'll make a great doctor, Olivia," Denise encouraged her, so excited herself that Olivia had been there to see it. As long as they couldn't be in a hospital, she was really glad they could all be together as a family.

Finally able to get words out after a few moments, Martin thanked Dr. Huxtable, and then asked, "Who were all those other people? And, why was the door taken off?"

"I'm still trying to understand all of that myself," Cliff muttered.

Martin and Denise took their new baby to the hospital, with Cliff following, while Claire worked on the wills and typed them up, except for the guardian part. Cliff arrived home just as that part was done, and Horshack and Mary were discussing the guardian portion. Epstein was upstairs putting the door back on, with Barbarino and Washington helping.

"Hey, Cliff; I presume Denise and Jackie are all right?" He said they were. "It's wonderful how Jean said she'd like to be a doctor now, too. Wouldn't it be great if she and Olivia wound up in medical school together?" Claire asked. Everyone agreed. Indeed, Rudy had even started to think about it, as young and impressionable as she was, though as a young teen, she didn't have as much wide-eyed awe as Olivia had had of it. Jean and Olivia had done some chores for getting them into the position where it would happen, with Jean having more once she got home, but they did seem to work well together.

"You know," Theo said, "I've heard so much funny stuff, I ought to use you and your students in one of my books, Mr. Kotter. I had this idea for a fictional work about these wisecracking time travelers who go back to try to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn."

"As long as you don't plan to use the birth story. There are parts where nobody would believe them. There are always so many children, and now grandchildren, it figures a baby would be born here one day. I can't imagine what could be next."

Horshack hadn't paid attention to that; instead, he simply continued on with another train of thought. "Say, you know what else I was thinking. We've heard so much about how wonderful and close your family is." He turned to his wife. "Let's name the Huxtables guardians for Jean."

Theo laughed. "I love that look you get sometimes, Dad." He knew Cliff was stunned at the idea that even more children could come to their house. Cliff loved children, but was always afraid they would never leave. "Tell you what, I won't use the crazier parts of today, as long as you let me use your story about how you voted in your first election."

"Yes," Cliff said, thankful for the chance to get onto a different subject. "My father gave me this long speech about how many in the South weren't allowed, and how I had to make a very careful choice. However, he never said I had to choose someone actually on the ballot. So, I agonized for weeks, and finally decided there was only one man with the drive and determination to break down barriers and succeed no matter what. So, I called home from college and proudly announced that I'd voted for Jackie Robinson."

Arnold looked at Mr. Kotter. "Wow, did your uncle know him?" He saw the others coming downstairs, having finished their work. "Hey, Dr. Huxtable's father and one of Mr. Kotter's uncles both voted for Jackie Robinson."

"Uh, Arnold," Washington said with a laugh, "I don't think Mr. Kotter actually had all those uncles he told stories about."

"Yeah, he'd have to have hundreds," Barbarino added. "Maybe a thousand."

Kotter hated to spoil the still somewhat naïve Horshack. Realizing he had an outlet, he said, "Some of 'em could have been friends of my dad, like the other guys are with you."

Claire smiled. "You know, I think it's great that you're willing to consider all your friends, and take the time to ponder everything. But, since you can't vote for Jackie Robinson like Cliff did, maybe the best solution, if they don't mind, is to name the Kotters guardian if something happens to the two of you."

"Hey, yeah, why not, Arnold? The girls love having Jean over. And, I'm sure we could handle one more," Kotter said. Arnold agreed, and they did it.

Washington asked Claire for a card. "My wife and I need to do that, too. I promise, our little one's not old enough to walk, so there won't be any doors getting locked."

"Well, just in case, we'll use my office," she joked. He agreed.

Once the Sweathogs had left, Cliff relaxed and beamed with pride as he and Theo sat on the couch, and he put an arm around Theo. "You know, things went so fast in there, I never had time to really grasp it. I joke about work, and how children seem to be around so much. But, to share my joy at delivering my grandson with you, and to share just a little of the amazing miracle of birth I get to be a part of every day…I'm so glad you were here for this, Theo."

"Thanks, Dad. I'm thankful, too. If it hadn't been for you always pushing me to succeed, I'd have never been in the position to experience what I did today." He smiled and said, "And, I hope Freddie, and Arnold, and I, in our jobs, will be able to inspire a lot more."

"I'm sure you will."


End file.
